1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system for determining information about the path of travel of a moving object.
2. Description of the Related Art
The remarkable, often astonishing, physical skills and feats of great athletes draw millions of people every day to follow sports that range from the power of football to the grace of figure skating, from the speed of ice hockey to the precision of golf. Sports fans are captivated by the abilities of a basketball players to soar to the rafters, of a baseball player to hit home runs, of a runner to explode down the track, etc. In televising these events, broadcasters have deployed a varied repertoire of technologies--ranging from slow-motion replay to lipstick-sized cameras mounted on helmets--to highlight for viewers these extraordinary talents. Fans are intrigued and excited by the efforts of athletes and the comparative abilities of athletes become topics of endless debate at water coolers, in sports bars, on the Internet, etc.
One piece of information that has never been available to fans of sports like baseball is the distance a baseball would have traveled when a home run is hit. In most cases a home run consists of a batter hitting the baseball over the home run fence. After the ball travels over the fence, it usually lands in the seating area. Because the ball's path of travel from the bat to a natural impact on the ground is interrupted by the ball hitting the stands, it is not known how far the ball would have traveled. Such information will not only create a statistic that reflects a critical athletic skill--batting power--but will also provide announcers with information that will enhance their analysis of the game. This information will be of tremendous interest to baseball fans, and to date there have been no successful attempts to reliably provide such information during the telecast of a game.
Therefore, a system is needed that can determine information about the path of a moving object, for example, the distance a baseball would travel if its path is not interrupted.